~ Seasonal fragrance and flavour from my country kitchens in England and France....celebrating local seasonal produce with traditional feasts and festivals, culinary notes, reviews, recipes and musings from home and abroad....whilst preparing family food with flair ~

Festive Fish on Friday:

Clementine and Honey Roast Salmon Salad with Wasabi Dressing Recipe

Clementine and Honey Roast Salmon Salad with Wasabi Dressing

My Fish on Friday post today is a little festive – I am starting to think of easy and yet spectacular ways to serve salads as part of the Christmas and New Year buffet table, as well as for light, tasty and exciting light meals. As you may remember, I was sent a honey roast side of salmon to review last week, from John at Delish Fish, and I created a fabulous pasta recipe with some of it – Family Fish and Pasta on Friday: Creamy Salmon and Orange Pasta with Mixed Herbs Recipe. Well, the side of salmon I was sent is also wonderful when served cold, so today I have devised a festive and very special salad with some of my honey roast salmon side, fresh cooked beetroot, clementines and a zippy wasabi dressing, made with some fresh English grown wasabi that was very kindly sent to me from The Wasabi Company, England. The wasabi arrived with a handy booklet, a grater and a wooden comb…….all very interesting!

The Wasabi Company, England

I love the combination of beetroot and fish, the earthy flavours of the salmon marry so well with beetroot; then the addition of the very seasonal clementines adds that fruity surprise, before the hot creamy wasabi dressing kicks in……it’s an elegant looking salad with a darker (hot) side! As I mentioned last week, I much prefer oranges with salmon, and the sweet almost floral taste of the clementines is just perfect when added to this recipe – the whole combination worked like a culinary dream, and we both devoured this salad today served with home-made bread rolls and fresh salty butter……with a “here comes the weekend” glass of wine too.

Clementine and Honey Roast Salmon Salad with Wasabi Dressing Recipe

So, today, my Fish on Friday offering to you all is a VERY simple idea for your festive buffet or luncheon tables……..and in the absence of fresh wasabi, you can use grated horseradish instead, it makes an ideal substitute. I also posted a lovely cheese board idea yesterday, again an easy to assemble and prepare dish for frantic times, Festive French Cheese Wreath with Boursin Cheese, hopefully, the cheese boards serving idea I suggested may aid you and your sanity throughout the crazy season.

Clementine and Honey Roast Salmon Salad with Wasabi Dressing Recipe

If you are curious about the ENGLISH wasabi, as I was, here is some more information about it, taken from the Wasabi Company website:

…..”Wasabia japonica is a member of the Brassica family, which includes cabbages, horseradish and mustard. The prized rhizome varies from a very light to a darker green, often with a purple ring running through it.

We’re growing and harvesting fresh wasabi in Britain, using traditional Japanese methods. Native to Japan and notoriously difficult to grow, we labour for two years over our wasabi crop to get it ready to grate and eat. That’s how long it takes to grow Sawa wasabi, the purest, sweetest, hottest and healthiest wasabi. Sawa refers to the flowing water that wasabi likes best, accustomed as it has become over centuries, to growing beside cool mountain streams.

We harvest crops every week and new batches of fresh wasabi are available at the start of each week. This is when we update our website so it always lists availability of a variety of sizes.

Also called Japanese Horseradish wasabi is not a member of the horseradish species. Archaeological evidence shows the ancient Japanese were eating wasabi as early as 14,000 B.C. By the 16th century cultivation had spread, but use was restricted to the Japanese ruling class. Production increased with the rise in popularity of sushi, when wasabi became the preferred flavouring and was prized for its ability to counteract food poisoning.

Health benefits

Traditionally wasabi is prepared using a sharkskin grater, but we have chosen not to encourage the use of these from a desire not to contribute to the further depletion of an endangered species. Instead we have sourced another traditional Japanese tool used for wasabi, oroshigane grater. This will enable you break down the cell walls enabling the essential reaction between myrosinase enzymes and glucosinolates to form the all important isothiocyanates that provide wasabi’s unique pungent heat.

It is these isothiocyanates (ITCs) that have led to wasabi’s ancient reputation as a healthy food. In fact anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic qualities are very likely to be the source of wasabi cultivation in ancient Japanese societies. The diet often contained raw fish and wasabi was used to counter the effect of food poisoning.

Along with those other famously healthy members of the brassica family that produce ITCs, broccoli and watercress, wasabi has recently become an important tool in research into cancer prevention and treatment”…….

Clementine and Honey Roast Salmon Salad with Wasabi Dressing Recipe

I am very pleased to report that my salad today was nearly all British! Fine Scottish salmon, fresh English wasabi, Yorkshire beetroot and local salad leaves…..the clementines were from Spain and the crème fraîche was from Somerset…..so, nearly 100% British with a low-carbon footprint, whilst supporting local and British produce, just the way I like it. I hope you find my salad inspirational enough to make it yourselves and maybe serve it this Christmas or New Year – do let me know what you think by leaving a comment below, they are always VERY welcome. Have a wonderful weekend, and I will see you tomorrow, Karen

An elegant and vibrant winter salad that would make a perfect starter for Christmas dinner or New Year's Day lunch; the ingredients can be increased so that this salad can be served as part of a festive buffet, and all that is needed is sliced rye bread, or sourdough to serve.

Ingredients

1 bag (110g) mixed salad leaves (I used mache and rocket leaves)

1 large cooked beetroot (cut into wedges)

225g honey roast hot smoked salmon (I used Delish Fish )

2 clementines (cut in half and then sliced)

4 tablespoons creme fraiche

1 to 2 teaspoons freshly grated wasabi

1 teaspoon honey

Note

An elegant and vibrant winter salad that would make a perfect starter for Christmas dinner or New Year's Day lunch; the ingredients can be increased so that this salad can be served as part of a festive buffet, and all that is needed is sliced rye bread, or sourdough to serve.

Directions

Step 1

Arrange the leaves on a large serving platter or individual plates and then add the beetroot wedges, the flaked salmon and then the clementine slices.

Step 2

Whisk the creme fraiche, 1 teaspoon of grated fresh wasabi and honey together and adjust seasoning with more wasabi if needed.

Step 3

Drizzle the creamy wasabi dressing over the salad and serve with sliced rye or sourdough bread.

Comments

Gorgeous salad Karen – it looks so pretty and I love the flavours you’ve got in there. Also thanks for the information about the wasabi – GL has been searching for the real thing to make his own wasabi so hopefully now we can buy it!

Meet Karen

Bienvenue! I'm Karen; it’s lovely to see you here. I share my time between beautiful North Yorkshire and SW France. I am a freelance writer and recipe developer with a passion for art, travel, books, photography, seasonal food and especially cheese! Please do get in contact with me if you have any questions about my work or commissioning me. Read More…